Two security agents killed and 70 civilians kidnapped in northwest Nigeria

Lagos.- Two security agents were killed and another 70 civilians were kidnapped this Sunday at dawn following an attack by armed men in the Nigerian district of Kaura Namoda, in Zamfara state (northwest), military sources confirmed to EFE.

The attack on the village of Kasuwar Daji was finally repelled by Nigerian troops, who managed to kill ten of the assailants, according to an Army captain who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“Unfortunately, we lost one soldier and three others were wounded in the attack. The wounded are receiving medical attention at one of our centers,” he added.

For his part, military spokesperson Olaniyi Osoba confirmed the attack in a statement, as well as the death of a soldier and a police officer.

“Contrary to the rumors circulating on the Internet about the death of six military personnel, it is worth mentioning that only one Army officer and one police officer lost their lives,” stated Osoba.

Although he acknowledged the kidnapping of numerous villagers, he did not specify the number of hostages taken, but said that Nigerian security forces managed to rescue nine.

Abdullahi Aliyu, a resident of the attacked village, recounted to EFE how dozens of armed men stormed the village on motorcycles and fired “indiscriminately” before forcibly taking the villagers away.

“They attacked the village from different directions in groups, firing indiscriminately. Some headed to the military post, while others attacked the villagers,” Aliyu stated.

Many of the inhabitants managed to flee to the mountains to escape the attack, but others did not succeed and were taken hostage.

“More than 70 villagers were kidnapped. I heard that some were rescued, but we haven’t seen them yet,” he added.

Some states in Nigeria, especially in the center and northwest, suffer constant attacks by bandits, a term used to designate criminal gangs that commit assaults and mass kidnappings for ransom, which the authorities sometimes label as “terrorists”.

Added to this insecurity is the activity of the jihadist group Boko Haram, active in the northeast of the country since 2009, as well as that of its splinter group, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), which emerged in 2016.

In the northwest, Lakurawa, a group apparently linked to the terrorist organization Islamic State-Sahel Province (ISSP), has also frequently carried out attacks in the states of Kebbi and Sokoto for years.